Bookrest



Patented May 8, 1923.

UNITI-:n STATESV rPM WILLIAM JAMES WALSH, OF HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADABooHREsT. I

Aipiicatioa mea October 13, 192i. yserial No. 567,461.

vented certainnew' and use-ful Improvements in Bookrests; of which thefollowing is a specification. l

My invention relates to improvements in vbook rests withvparticularreference toy the general type described in my previousUnited StatesPatent N o. 1,017,121 dated February 13th, 1912 and the object of thepresent invention is to provide a device off this character which willsupport the book normally in the closed position thus making the devicemore compact and permitting its installation in confined positions whereit is either undesirable or impossible to install the open type rest,and a still further object isto permit a more free. opening of the bookwhereby the inner portions of the pages adjacent to the binding are morefreely ex.- posed.

My present invention consists essentially of a spring controlled bookre-st hingedly supported in a bracket secured in an upright positionupon a wall or other suitable place, a transversely curved back clamphingedly mounted along one side .edge of the lbook rest, inwardly bentflangesr at `each vendy of the hinged back clamp, retaining rods havingtheir ends secured in the said anges and extending longitudinally of theback clamp, and a stop limiting the swing of the hinged back cla-mp, allas hereinafter more par- .ticularly described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section through my inventionshowing the' rest in the lowered position and the book closed, theraised position being indicated in broken lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in section of a wall bracket used in theinvention and a supporting arm for the book rest which is hngedlymounted within the wall bracket.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the book rest, supporting armtherefor and a hinged back clamp carried by the rest.

Egrem.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the book rest with the book supported therein`in fthe'closed position.

F ig. 5 is a central cross section'through the device showing thebooklin the ,openVv position for reading.

Like characters of reference indicate ycorresponding parts inthedifferent views.l`

1 isa bracket rigidly secured to the-.wall 2 and is provided 4with theIoutwardly therefrom.

jaws 3 extending e 4 is a supporting arm carryinga transverse casing 5at onekend, which casing vis hingedly mounted between the jaws 3 bymeans rof the bolt 6. A.

7 are end: nuts forsecuring the bolt'i6 in iy position.

8 SL a coil spring which is carried by the bolt 6 and lies within atransverse opening 9 in the casing 5. One end ofl the spring 8` engagesthe under side of the bracket 1 at A while the other end engages atf B lthe top facerof avlip 10 formed at the` extrem'ity of the casing 5. l p

The supportin arm v4is of semicircular cross section an 11 isaresilientspring sleeve formed to surround the arms 4 and to have fianges12'and v13 extending on each side thereof. y i f The above describedportion of the present invention is identical with that shown in myprevious patent above referred to and will not therefore be describedlin further detail.

14 is the" book rest properwhich is made largerthan `the closed size ofth with `which it is to be used.

The springsleeve 11 is secured centrallyy to the under side of the rest14 (se-e Fig. 3) and is mounted upon the supporting arm 4 by passing thesleeve over said arm, the stops 16 being then secured to the end of thearm 4 to pre-vent removal of the spring sleeve and rest therefrom. y

The sleeve 11 fits snugly to and is adapted to tilt in either directionon the arm 4.

17 is a back clamp which is: curved at 18 for a purpose as willpresently appear.

The inner edges of the back clamp 17 and of the rest 14 carry hingeportions 19 and 85 substantially of a size equal to or just slightlyf'le hook 15 connected to the edge of the rest 14 b-y a through rod 21which engages the hinge portions 19 and 20.

22 is a stop carried by the back of the hinged clamp 17 and is adaptedto engage the under face of; the rest 14' for limiting the degree ofswing of the back clamp when the book is being opened (see Figs. 3, 4and 5). n

23 are flanges carried by each end o the back clamp 17 and 24 areretaining rods extending between the flanges 23 and secured by nuts v25.rIhese rods 24are di'sposedconcentrically with the curvedportion 18 ofthey back clamp 17.

26 is the back 15 and is curved (see` edge'or binding of the book Figs.4 and 5).

The construction and operation et my device is as follows: f

The rest14is supported' upon the arm 4 in exactly the samefmanner asdescribed in my former patent above mentioned except that in, thepresentcase the rest is the size of the vrclosed book only instead ofthatof the open b ook andthe arin 4` is situated centrallyothe rest 1 4.

The, device'is primarily intended for use with books such as' telephonedirectories and such like vwhich are now made with aconcave curved backbinding as shown at 26 (see Fig s.4 andlv 5.) and in .order to permita'full free opening ofthe book I., make the back clamp lcurved as at 18and arrange the retaining rods 24 concentrically therewith andalsosubstantially concentric with the curved backk of the book.

The book is secured in place by assing the rods 24 between the leavesthereo at they proper places and: securing said rods by the nuts 25,.

The book mounted uponthe device is shown in' the closed position in Fig;4 and in the open positionin Fig. 5.

It willfbe seen from Fig. 5; that the constructiony permits. anexceptionally free opening of the bookl so thatthe portion of the pagesadjacent. to the binding are fully exposed.

This overcomes a diiiicult-y in former clamping devices for thick books:since device which grasped' hitherto, the clampin the backportion of t ebook tended to prevent such ree full opening, thus rendering the readingof the inner portions or' the sheets either impossible or at leastextremely difficult- The spring sleeve 11 permits the tilting of therest 14 to either side, asin my former patent, and will normallymaintain the rest level except when held so tilted by hand.

The spring-8 will of course normally tend to raise the book and restinto the closed positions indicated in broken lines in Fig. l but asthis operation is identical with my former patent it will-not bedescribed here.

The stop 22 will limit the opening of the book so that it cannotopenbeyondthe de- Sired'horizontal position for reading shown in Figs. 3 and5. i

VVhile i have described the use ofl my invention primarily for use withbooks having curved backs it is7 of course7 applicable to books havingthe normall straight back in which' case it will also permit anexceptionally free opening of the book.

Various modilications may-be made inthe details4 loif constructionwithout departing from the spirit-ofthe invention or the scope of theclaim and therefore the exact forni shown is to be taken as illustrativeonly and not in a` limiting sense.

For instance I may dispense with thespring sleeve 11` and* mountthelbook rest 14l rigidly upon the supporting arni4:

From the 'oregoingit will be evident that;

have devised an improved boolr-A rest which will be of great valueliioruse withteleplione directories andr other similar books oi ref'- erence.

What I claim asniy invention isa In a device of the class described, thecombination with a. latbook rest,of f a relatively narrow' platehingedjly connected to one marginalV edge thereo-g book securing meanscarriedbyl said hinged pla .te a projecting rigid stop arm-rigidlycarried by the hingedplate, said stop4 arm adapted to engage the back ofthe book restv and liniit the oscillation ot' thehinged plate.

VILLAM JAMES* VALSH.

Witnesses JoiiN G. HAYWARD, l. D. HAYWARD.

